Background
Brian M. Ames requested the West Geauga Local School District’s February 2025 check register. The school board produced the register but redacted student initials, asserting that federal and Ohio student-privacy laws prohibited their disclosure because the register connected particular students with purchased services. Ames disputed the redactions and sent the board the pre-suit complaint required by Ohio’s recently amended Public Records Act.
The record showed that the board received the pre-suit complaint on Monday, April 28, 2025. It told Ames the next day that it stood by its original response. Ames filed a mandamus petition on Wednesday, April 30, seeking an unredacted register, statutory damages, attorney’s fees, and costs. The Eleventh District Court of Appeals dismissed the petition because Ames filed it during the statutory three-business-day cure period.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Court of Ohio affirmed, reviewing the procedural issue de novo. Under R.C. 149.43(C)(1), a requester must properly serve a prescribed pre-suit complaint and then allow the public office three business days after receipt to cure or otherwise address the alleged failure. The requester may commence a mandamus action only after that period expires.
Because the board received the complaint on April 28, the cure period ran on April 29, April 30, and May 1; Ames therefore could not file until May 2 at the earliest. His April 30 filing was premature. The court added that even if the complaint had arrived on April 25, as Ames argued using information outside the appellate record, April 30 still would have been the third business day and thus too early. Because this procedural defect resolved the appeal, the court did not decide whether the student-initial redactions were lawful.
The court also disposed of 27 pending motions, denying one as moot and denying the rest, including competing sanctions requests and requests to declare Ames a vexatious litigator. It cautioned both parties that future unnecessary or groundless motion practice could result in sanctions. Chief Justice Kennedy concurred in the judgment except as to portions of the court’s analysis and dissented in part, stating that she would reach the petition’s merits.
Key Takeaways
- Ohio public-records requesters must wait until the statutory three-business-day cure period has fully expired before filing a mandamus action.
- The day the public office receives the pre-suit complaint is excluded when calculating the cure period.
- A premature filing requires dismissal even if the public office announces during the cure period that it will not change its response.
- The court did not decide whether FERPA or Ohio law permitted the school board to redact the students’ initials.
Why It Matters
The decision treats compliance with R.C. 149.43(C)(1)’s pre-suit process as a mandatory prerequisite to a public-records mandamus action. Requesters must calculate the cure period carefully and wait until the following business day to sue, even when the agency has already reaffirmed its position.
The ruling also underscores that a direct appellate court will decide the timing issue from the record developed below, not from new delivery evidence introduced on appeal. Public offices and requesters should therefore preserve clear proof of service and receipt.